


A Very McGarrett Christmas

by stellarmeadow



Series: Season 3 codas/missing scenes [8]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Christmas, Coda, Episode Related, First Time, M/M, ep. 3.11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-18
Updated: 2012-12-26
Packaged: 2017-11-21 10:46:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/596839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas dinner with the McGarretts is...enlightening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I really should be in bed. But they refused to let me sleep until Christmas dinner was written. And they're really loud when I try to sleep... :)

Danny stared at the front door of Steve's house, hand raised to knock. For the tenth time, he considered turning around and going home. He was pretty sure Steve wouldn't come kidnap him and make him come to dinner.

Well, okay, he was maybe forty percent sure. Fifty to sixty if Doris discovered Steve leaving and stopped him.

Because Steve, intelligent, observant detective that he could be, had yet to figure out that Danny and Doris in the same room was a recipe for disaster, and that recipe was in the Betty Crocker cook book under "How to Ruin Christmas."

Danny dropped his hand and screwed up his face, willing himself to turn around before he could picture the hurt look Steve would have on his face the next time Danny saw him.

"Fuck." He took a deep breath and put his hand up to knock again.

The door opened before Danny could actually touch his knuckles to it. "Cath owes me ten bucks," Steve said.

"Sorry?"

"She said you wouldn't show up."

"Actually," Cath said quietly from just over Steve's shoulder, "I said you had too much self-preservation instinct to show up."

She grinned sunnily at Steve's scowl and wandered off towards the kitchen. "I don't know what she's talking about," Steve said, as he stepped back and let Danny into the house.

"That's because where your mother is concerned you have blinders on and earplugs in," Danny muttered.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Nothing," Danny said, turning around, smile pasted onto his face. "I have to admit I half expected to see Ethan and his father here."

Steve shrugged, ducking his head. "I offered, but they wanted to spend it alone together after everything, so...."

"Yeah, spending Christmas with your kid is special," Danny said, pressing his lips together and trying not to think about Grace having Christmas in fake, glittery Vegas.

"I'm sorry, Danny," Steve said, stepping closer and putting his hand on Danny's bicep. "Have you talked to Grace?"

Danny nodded. "I talked to her before I came over. She was on her way to dinner and some show with Santa Claus and dancing elves or something."

"When's she due back?"

"Friday." Danny scrubbed a hand over his face, leaning into Steve's warmth a little. "And then I have her for a week, so that's something."

"We'll have to do something special for her to make up for missing Christmas with her dad."

Danny gave him a faint smile, wondering if it was even worth putting up an argument. Because Steve would plan whatever he clearly had in his head already, and nothing Danny could say would stop him. And really, deep down, Danny didn't even want to stop him. "Just promise me there is no knife-throwing or boar killing involved."

"You really need to learn to let things go, Danno."

A few footsteps clicked on the wooden floor before Doris's voice came from the kitchen doorway. "Dinner's ready," she said, carrying a large, uncarved turkey to the dining room. "Hello, Danny," she called as she passed through the room.

"Hi."

She put the turkey down in the middle of the table and turned to look at him, giving Steve's hand a pointed look where it still rested on Danny's arm. Steve dropped his hand, but Doris gave both of them long looks. "Nice to see you," Doris said as she walked back through to the kitchen.

Danny looked at Steve. "You're carving the turkey, right? Because I'm not sure I want to be in the same room with her holding a knife."

"I'm telling you, Danny, you're imagining things. She likes you just fine. She talks about you all the time."

"Oh, and that's supposed to make me feel better? She's probably pumping you for information to figure out new ways to kill me without anyone catching her."

"Really, Danny?"

Danny sighed. "Sorry," he said, holding up a hand in surrender. "It's Christmas. I'll try to stop."

"Don't hurt yourself on my account." Steve nodded at the plastic bag in Danny's hand. "Is that my present?"

"You're assuming I got you a present."

Steve's big goofy smile sent warmth through Danny's body. "I know you got me a present."

"If you tell me you snooped and know what it is, I'm taking it back."

"I didn't snoop," Steve said, his grin softening into something more intimate. "I just know you got me something."

"How do you know that?"

"I know you."

Danny swallowed, lightheaded at the rush of blood on the expressway south, courtesy of Steve's voice.

"Are you boys going to stand there all day?" Doris asked as she walked back through, Catherine on her heels, "or are you going to help put the food out?"

"We'll help," Steve said.

"Here," Danny said, before Steve could move. He pulled a bottle of wine out of his bag, which did, in fact, also hold a present for Steve. "Never let it be said I wasn't a good guest."

Steve took the wine. "You're a long way from a guest in my house, Danno."

"Yeah, well, you, your mom, your girlfriend...I'm a little third wheelish maybe?"

"I don't have a girlfriend," Steve said, giving Danny one last cryptic look before turned towards the kitchen. Danny followed, dropping his present on the coffee table along the way. He helped put out plates until there was nothing left in the kitchen and almost no room on the table. "Are we expecting the rest of the Navy?" Danny asked as he sat down on one side of Steve, who was at one end of the table.

"We've missed a lot of Christmases," Doris said, her voice losing some of that edge it usually had when directed at Danny, though he thought that was more due to the slightly uncertain look she was giving Steve than any warming towards Danny.

He gave her a point, maybe two, for trying to make up to Steve for fucking him up emotionally for pretty much his entire life, but somehow he thought it would take more than making Christmas dinner. Or buying it, he thought, as he recognized the container the mashed potatoes were in--he'd bought the same ones from Whole Foods when he'd 'made' dinner for Gabby.

"Okay then," Danny said, clearing his throat. "Are you going to carve that turkey," he asked Steve, "or are you waiting for it to separate itself?"

"I can carve it," Doris said.

"It's okay, Mom," Steve said quickly, before Danny could do more than glare at him, "I'll get it."

Danny watched Steve's hands as he expertly carved the turkey, only realizing he was staring when he caught Catherine watching. A quick glance at the other end of the table showed Doris watching Danny as well, eyes narrowed, studying him as if he was under a microscope.

He dropped his eyes to his plate until Steve sat down, the turkey carved.

Plates were passed with idle chatter, Danny letting the three voices fall into the background as he thought about Grace having Christmas in a desert where she knew exactly three people, and one of them could barely hold his head up on his own yet.

"So, Danny, where's your daughter?"

He steeled himself not to bite Doris's head off. "She's with her mother in Las Vegas," he said, then cleared his throat. "Rachel's husband is doing some work there, so they've gone to visit him for Christmas."

"Must be tough, not having your kid around at Christmas."

"You would know," he said, before he could stop himself.

Doris's lips thinned, and Danny recognized that look from the number of times Steve had worn it. Usually directed at a suspect who wouldn't talk. "I guess sometimes you do what you've got to do for your family."

He nodded, not trusting himself to say anything nice, so he said nothing else at all. He hazarded a glance at Steve, but he didn't look pissed, so Danny relaxed a little.

"You didn't want to spend your Christmas with your girlfriend, though?" Doris said, and Danny's slight relaxation was gone.

"We, uh...aren't seeing each other anymore," Danny said, and he could feel the intensity of Steve's gaze on him, even though Danny was looking at Doris.

"You didn't tell me that," Steve said, and Danny forced himself to turn and look, seeing the same look Steve always wore when Danny had hidden something from him.

Danny shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal. We just couldn't find time for each other until we realized maybe we just didn't want to find it bad enough."

Or maybe Danny was choosing to spend time with Steve over Gabby, but he wasn't stupid enough to say that, either.

"So that means you're back on the market?" Doris asked, stabbing a piece of turkey with her fork with a little too much force for Danny's comfort. "Maybe Steve could set you up with someone. Or Catherine." She turned to Catherine. "You have any friends who might be interested in Danny?"

"Okay," Steve said, before Catherine could do more than smile, "I think Danny can find his own dates. Let's talk about something else."

"Anything else," Danny agreed wholeheartedly. Catherine immediately started in on the safe, neutral topic of Christmas lights, but Danny could feel Doris watching him.

They managed the rest of dinner with no bloodshed, and only a few pointed remarks that were quickly diffused by Catherine or Steve. Catherine had to say goodbye to go back to base, so Danny gave her a hug and then left her alone with Steve, trying not to imagine their goodbye. They were good together, and Steve deserved to be happy.

If Danny would rather Steve be happy with him, that was too damn bad.

He took empty plates into the kitchen, realizing too late that it left him alone in a room with Doris. "Sorry about your girlfriend," she said, sounding sincere. It was a new tone for her where Danny was concerned. "Didn't mean to bring up a painful subject."

"It's not painful, not really," Danny said. "Just...inevitable."

She nodded. "I can see that."

He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just...she never seemed right for you."

"You've never even met her."

"No, but I've seen you, and I've seen--Catherine gone?"

Danny was left wondering what she'd been about to say as Steve had walked in. Whatever it was, she clearly didn't want him hearing it. "Yeah."

"Maybe the two of you can go out and drown your sorrows."

Steve was giving her an odd look. "It's Christmas, Mom. I'm not leaving home on Christmas to drown my sorrows. And who says I have sorrows anyway?" Doris raised an eyebrow, and whatever Steve saw in her face made him flush and duck his head. "I'm going to go get some more of the dishes," he said and left the kitchen.

"Was that weird?" Danny asked no one in particular.

Doris answered anyway. "No," she said. "But you know, for a detective who, by all accounts--and let me tell you I hear plenty of accounts from my son--is very good at his job, you are oblivious, Danno."

"Don't call me that," Danny ground out. "Please."

"Oh, right. You only reserve that for special people, right?"

Oh, great, because the icing on his Christmas cake was for Doris McGarrett to figure out he had a thing for Steve. "My daughter calls me that."

"And Steve."

"Yeah, well, have you ever tried stopping Steve from doing anything?"

She laughed. "I haven't been able to stop him from doing anything since he came out of my womb," she said, her lips curving into a soft frown. "Haven't been able to make him do anything, either."

"He does whatever he wants," Danny said.

"Or doesn't do what he wants," Doris replied.

Danny had the feeling they were having two different conversations. "Like I said, it's hard to stop him from doing anything."

She looked at him for a long moment. "So this girlfriend of yours," she said finally, "why didn't it work out?"

"We couldn't find time to get together."

"Does she have a demanding job?"

"Not really, she's got mostly normal hours."

"So then your job kept you from spending time with her?"

Danny shrugged. "My job has anything but normal hours."

"And yet you've spent plenty of time with Steve. I'm assuming some of that could've been spent with your girlfriend," Doris said. "Sorry, ex-girlfriend."

 _Shit_. He really, really did not need her figuring out his feelings for Steve. Though her face, combined with her words, made him think that ship had already sailed. "Your point?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"Did you ever wonder why I grilled you the first time we met?"

"Because you're a trained CIA agent who can't help herself?"

She rolled her eyes. "Stop and think about the questions, Danno. And then think about why I'd ask them."

Steve came back in with plates before Danny could ask her what she meant. "I should probably go," Danny said, and only then did Steve look at him, frowning.

"Why?" he asked. "Got somewhere to be?"

"It's getting late--"

"It's 6:30, Danny."

Danny saw the knowing look on Doris's face, and he needed to get out of there now before she revealed something. Or worse, before he did. "You should spend some time with your Mom," Danny said quickly, backing towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He turned and fled before Steve could catch up.

***

_Are you kidding? Stick my tongue to that stupid pole?_

_That's dumb._

_That's 'cause you know it will stick!_

Danny laughed at the kids on his TV, remembering a time he and his brother were just like that. Before Matt had gone and gotten himself into so much trouble he could never come home again.

"Merry fucking Christmas," Danny muttered, turning the TV off and tossing the remote on the coffee table.

He laid down on the couch and covered his face with a throw pillow, blocking out the world for a few seconds, until there was a knock at his door.

"Go away," Danny muttered into his pillow, but the knock sounded again.

He sighed, throwing the pillow at the other end of the couch and heaving himself to his feet. "I'm coming!" Danny shouted at the door when there was a third knock.

He opened the door, mouth poised to start a rant, when he saw Steve on his doorstep. "I thought you were spending the rest of the day with your Mom."

"No, you told me to spend the rest of my day with Mom," Steve said, pushing his way inside.

Danny had no choice but to move as Steve brushed past him, the door slipping out of Danny's nerveless fingers. "And of course, you never do what I tell you."

"You didn't stick around long enough to find out that Mom had other plans," Steve said.

Which didn't make sense. Danny would've sworn Doris wanted nothing more than to spend the whole Christmas day with her son. "She had other plans?"

"A drink with friends she reconnected with," Steve said. "She practically pushed me out of the house. Told me to come check on you--said she thought you might be suicidal or something."

Danny wondered idly how badly Steve would be hurt if Danny shot Steve's mother. Nothing major, just in the foot. "She did not say that."

"Well, she _implied_ it," Steve said. "Plus, you forgot this." He held up Danny's plastic bag with Steve's present in it.

"It's yours," Danny said. "I brought it there for you."

"Yeah, but I couldn't open it without you there. And it's the only present I have left to open." He reached into the bag and pulled out a gift that wasn't the one Danny had brought to Steve. "Also, you didn't get yours."

Danny rubbed his eyes. He wasn't sure he could deal with Holiday Spirit Steve, not with his walls practically non-existent. He had no defenses left to keep from revealing his feelings. "Okay, if we open presents, then can I go back to my nap?"

At Steve's face, Danny wanted to kick himself. Bad enough that his girlfriend had gone back to sea, and his mother had ditched him on Christmas after pretending to be dead for twenty years...he didn't need Danny kicking him out, too. "Sorry," Danny said. "I'm just...I'm not good company today."

"You're always good company," Steve said. "Even when you're ranting like a lunatic."

"Lunatic? Really?" Danny laughed in spite of himself.

"Your rants do occasionally lean that way, yeah."

Danny rolled his eyes. "If anyone would know lunacy, it's you, my friend. You live it daily."

"Yeah, well, life is short," Steve said cryptically, then held out Danny's present again. "So you'd better open your present quick."

Danny shook his head, but he took the present and ripped off the paper, opening the box to reveal a tie. "That's very nice," he said, pulling the bright blue silk out, letting the soft fabric slide through his fingers. "Thank you."

"You're a detective," Steve said. "Doesn't that mean you keep digging?"

Frowning into the box, Danny pulled out the tissue paper the tie had been laying on to find tickets. "Bon Jovi," he said, staring at them. "Front row in LA in April?" He looked up at Steve. "Seriously?"

Steve nodded. "The plane tickets were in email, so I didn't include them." He looked far more nervous than he should for such an awesome gift. "So what do you say? You, me, Bon Jovi?"

"You want to go to a Bon Jovi concert?"

"Yes, I want to go to a Bon Jovi concert with you," Steve said, looking at Danny as if he was missing something.

"Okay," Danny said, wondering how he was going to survive a trip to LA, just the two of them, and Bon Jovi, without jumping Steve. Then again, he had months to work on that.

Steve looked disappointed, but Danny couldn't figure out why. Maybe he hadn't shown enough enthusiasm. "I mean, Bon Jovi, LA...that'll be awesome!"

The look turned less disappointed and more amused. "Danny," Steve said, "did I mention Cath gave me my Christmas present before she left?"

Yeah, this was the story he wanted to hear right now. If nothing else, maybe it would keep him from ripping off that shirt that was hugging Steve's arms so perfectly. "What'd she give you?"

"You."

Danny blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"You." Steve took a tentative step forward. "She told me I was an idiot, and that she wasn't speaking to me again until I got my head out of my ass and made my move on you."

"But you...she...."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Were casual. I kept telling you that."

"I just thought it was your commitment issues!" Danny said. "How the hell was I supposed to know you had the hots for me? You sure as hell hid it well enough!"

"Really? I hid it well? So well that Cath had to tell me to go after you, and then my own mother practically threw me out of the house to force me to come here."

Danny blinked again. "I thought she had plans."

"She did, but only because she needed them to make me leave. And when I said I'd just stay there and wait to go home, she might've, um...well, let's just say I think she's read you well." Steve ducked his head, looking at Danny through his lashes. "At least I hope she has, because if she's wrong...."

His brain catching up, finally, Danny cleared his throat. "Um...she's not wrong. At least I think she's not, not if she said that I might have the same problem you do."

"'Problem?'" Steve said. "It's a problem?"

"No, I mean, yes, it was, when I didn't realize you had the same problem, but now I guess it's not, because you have it and I have it, and--"

"Danny?"

"What?"

"Shut up."

Steve kissed him, and only then did Danny realize this was real, this was actually happening, he wasn't on the couch dreaming. Steve was wrapped around him and pressed against him, and doing his best to map Danny's tonsils, and it was perfect.

"So," Danny said, when they came up for air, "your mother isn't expecting you home tonight, right?"

Steve laughed, pausing to kiss Danny a few more times. "I think she'd kick my ass if I came home tonight."

"Somehow I suspect she'd be really good at it, too," Danny mused. "She's kind of scary."

"Danny?"

"Yes?"

"Do you really want to talk about my mother right now?"

"No."

Steve smiled pressing his lips to Danny's again. "Merry Christmas," Steve muttered against Danny's mouth.

And if Danny's "Merry Christmas" was swallowed up by Steve's mouth, he wasn't complaining.

\---

END


	2. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gets a present from Danny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little later than I'd planned (I'd meant to post this on Christmas Day, but weather got in the way of finishing it). Hope you still like it, despite the slight delay... :) 
> 
> ~~~

Danny woke slowly, inhaling the warm scent of sex and Steve surrounding him. He shifted, loving the drag of skin against skin, something that, like smell, dreams and fantasies could never manage to create. 

His movement woke Steve, whose arms tightened around Danny as his eyes blinked open. "Hey," Steve said, smiling, his voice fuzzy with sleep. 

"Hey." Danny couldn't help the matching smile that he could feel growing on his face. 

"What time is it?" Steve asked, rubbing his face against the pillow and settling in a little deeper into the bed.

Danny glanced over Steve's shoulder at the clock. "Just after eleven."

"Oh good," Steve said, "so we still have time." 

"Babe, we have all night," Danny said, leaning in for a kiss.

Steve nipped at Danny's bottom lip. "In a minute," Steve said against Danny's lips. "But I meant you have time to give me my present before Christmas is over."

Danny laughed. "Wouldn't want you to have to wonder what I got you," he said, stealing one more kiss. "It might drive you crazy."

He shoved the covers off and padded naked into the living room, where Steve's present was still in the bag on the coffee table. He grabbed the present and went back to the bedroom, pausing in the doorway to appreciate the sight of Steve, sitting in his bed, covers pooled around his waist and a look on his face that almost made Danny drop the package in his hand. 

"You, uh," Danny dropped the present on the bed, climbing back under the covers with Steve, "you want to open that before midnight, you need to stop looking at me like that."

Steve chuckled, and Danny was distracted by how his throat moved with the sound. "Then you," Steve said, low and so sexy it made Danny forget everything else, "should put some clothes on."

"Right," Danny whispered, leaning in until their lips were almost touching, "this is me, getting dressed, right now."

Steve's hand slid along Danny's jaw, cupping his cheek and pulling him that last fraction of an inch in for a kiss. "Present first," Steve muttered against Danny's mouth.

"See," Danny said, pulling back with a smile, "I should've known sex would only make you more demanding."

"Just wait," Steve said, "I'll show you demanding."

The promise in his voice sent shivers through Danny's body. "After your present, right?" 

At Steve's nod, combined with a goofy grin, Danny shook his head and grabbed the package from the foot of the bed and handed it to Steve. 

Steve ripped the paper and tossed it over the side of the bed. He opened the box, peering inside before his eyes lifted to Danny, laughing even before the sound escaped from his mouth. "The Complete Chucky Collection?" Steve said, laughter still in his voice.

Danny shrugged. "I heard you only had it on tape," he said, his eyes not quite meeting Steve's. "Figured the least I could do was upgrade you to DVD." 

Steve put the box aside, reaching for Danny's cheek again, forcing him to meet Steve's gaze. "Tell the truth," Steve said, his eyes warm, "you were going to use them to seduce me, weren't you?"

"Well," Danny said slowly, unable to stop his lips from curving up, "I was kind of hoping you might use them to seduce me."

Steve laughed, his fingertips caressing Danny's neck without moving his hand from Danny's cheek. "I'll let you in on a little secret," Steve said, leaning in, his breath ghosting across Danny's mouth. "You don't need scary movies to seduce me. You had me at, 'An ambulance.'"

Danny frowned. "What?"

"When we first met, I asked if you were going to call for back up, and you said, 'An ambulance.'" Steve sounded half amused, half something else entirely. "That was it."

"Why am I not surprised threats of violence turn you on?"

"Well, to be fair, it's a specific threat, from a specific person, and under a specific situation."

Protecting his father's house and any evidence of his father's murder, Danny realized. "As long as you don't decide to have sex with me on the spot the next time I threaten a suspect or something," Danny teased.

"I can't make any promises," Steve teased back, then sobered a little. "Thanks for the present," he said. "I will promise to see how little of each one I can get you to watch, one after the other."

Danny laughed. "You have a deal. But maybe we can do that tomorrow, and get back to what we were already doing tonight?"

Steve rolled him over, covering Danny's body with his own."I think that's an excellent plan."

\---  
END

**Author's Note:**

> Want to learn more about me and my writing? Visit my page at <http://www.jamiemeadowswrites.com/>


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